


Companionship in Solitude

by Zebra (DQueenie13)



Category: Granblue Fantasy (Video Game)
Genre: Anne and Yaia make cameos, Comfort/Hurt in that order, Gen, Minor Anne/Grea content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:14:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22164664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DQueenie13/pseuds/Zebra
Summary: As Siegfried's dragon transformation slowly but surely progresses, he has an encounter with two people who can sympathize with his plight: Lennah, who was cursed to transform into a tree, and Grea, the half-human, half-dragon girl who struggles to control her powers.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 28





	Companionship in Solitude

_ Slowly but surely, the human cells within me are being replaced by dragon cells… _

Siegfried sat alone in a small room inside the Grandcypher. It was currently docked at a bustling island city, so the ship was largely empty as everyone set about their own business. Outside on the docks, some crew kids were playing a game. The faint sound of laughter reached him, twisting the corners of his mouth into a wistful smile as he watched the small figures in the distance run back and forth.

There was no telling how much time he had left. The doctor predicted he wouldn’t have a transformation like he’d undergone at Gunther’s hands, but his draconification was undoubtedly progressing. Even before the incident with Gunther, he was increasingly aware of his fading humanity—faster regeneration, heightened instinct, and a decreased need for sleep or food were among the things he noticed.

On top of searching for a cure for his draconification, if it even existed, this “Merlin” was still at large. The magic Gunther used was vaguely reminiscent of Hagen’s necromancy. Both of them tried to destroy him and Feendrache. It wasn’t impossible that Merlin held something against either him, Feendrache, or  _ both _ .

Before he could dwell on it any more, the scent of flowers and the sound of footsteps preceded the figure that approached the room. When the footsteps stopped outside the doorway, Siegfried turned towards the source. Lennah peered in curiously, exposing only her head and shoulders as she looked around to see if anyone else was with him. Today, she wasn’t wearing her signature wide-brim hat, and her lilac hair was swept into a loose ponytail.

As she locked eyes with him, her signature smile felt blinding. “Would you like some company, Siegfried? The children went out to play and left you behind.”

“No, I told them I’d stay inside.” Siegfried started to turn down her offer but paused as he considered the events of the past few weeks. Lennah patiently waited, making no move to hurry him or showing any sign of losing interest. “...But you can stay if you’d like.”

“Well, if you’ve so graciously allowed me to interrupt your alone time, I can’t refuse, can I?” Lennah stepped into the room, showing that she was wearing only the base layer of her dress. No long layers of fabric and ruffles. Nothing to hide the branches and bark that once marred her skin. After all, her body—her  _ new  _ body—no longer had a curse to hide.

She sat in the chair across from her as she delicately touched the handle of the cast iron teapot sitting on the table. “My, what a unique design!”

Calling it  _ unique _ was a very generous description. Grotesque figures that bore no resemblance to any known human or animal, painted the color of blood, adorned the sides of the pot. It was undoubtedly a souvenir from his travels.

“Isn’t it? On the island I bought it from, it’s said that drinking tea brewed within such a pot will ward off evil spirits.”

“My, is that so! If that’s the case, why don’t we enjoy a nice cup of tea or two? My treat.” She opened the pocket bag tied to her waist and produced a few different bags of loose tea. “I have a few varieties on hand. Shall I describe them to you?”

Siegfried shook his head. “I’m not much of a tea connoisseur. I’ll leave the blend to your discretion.”

“Well then, let’s go with… This.” Plucking the second-leftmost bag and setting it aside, she gathered up the remaining bags and placed them back into her pocket. “Let’s see, water…”

“Here.”

Siegfried reached back and grabbed a pitcher sitting on the windowsill. This room was used as a rest area after missions, so it was often stocked with fresh water. It had a deep windowsill that ran along the entire side of the room and was treated as both a seat, a table, and a shelf. His armor, save for the greaves which he still wore, was carefully placed on it with some rags and bottles of oils and solutions to the side.

After grabbing a kettle to heat the water, Lennah lifted the lid of the teapot. “Oh? It’s empty? You must love its visage if you brought such a heavy thing here just to look at it.”

“Well, we’re going to use it now, won’t we?” Siegfried replied quickly to cover up the fact that he completely forgot to eat or drink since breakfast. It was already approaching evening and he hadn’t even realized until Lennah pointed it out.

_ Just another sign of my fading humanity, I suppose... _

“Very true!” Lennah, who walked to another side of the room, missed his pained expression at her ill-timed reply.

As he poured water into the kettle, she returned with a portable stove. It was kept in the room to boil water or cook small items without needing the larger galleys. “Hmm… Do we have a match? I can provide the kindling.”

“I can use magic. We won’t need kindling, and it’s less smoke.”

Lennah looked on with interest as he gently blew into the firebox. The end of his breath turned into flames that continued to burn, even without any fuel to feed on. He closed the door to the firebox and placed the stove to the side of the table, then she placed the kettle over it.

Their chatter died down as they waited for the water to heat up. Siegfried’s gaze wandered back towards the children, who were now joined by some of the adults as they played another group game. He was keenly aware, however, of Lennah’s occasional glances in his direction. It felt a bit like a predator examining its prey for weak points, and his skin prickled as his senses involuntarily shifted into fight-or-flight mode.

Finally, she broke the silence. “That flame just now… Have you always been able to do that?”

“No,” he admitted after a pause. “It’s…”

“The draconification. I heard,” she replied softly. When his only response was a curt nod, she gently continued, “I know how terrifying it is to have your body undergo inhuman changes. I couldn’t sleep, because I didn’t know if I’d wake up in the morning… I did everything I could to cover it up because I didn’t want people to stare… I went from island to island not to enjoy life, but in a desperate search for a cure.”

Lennah giggled, though in self-deprecation rather than humor, before her next sentence. “I was certainly alive, but I don’t think I  _ lived _ , you know?”

Siegfried hummed in acknowledgement, neither confirming nor denying his sympathies. “That new body of yours—” he instead begins, “Is it… comfortable?”

“Oh, as perfect as it can be!” She flaunted her bare, unblemished arms. “No curse to be found! Well, it might not be a  _ human _ body; all I need to sustain myself is some water and sunlight, and maybe a human sacrifice here and there—I’m just kidding, don’t look at me like that!—but no more hiding behind big, poofy dresses! ...I just like wearing them anyways,” she winked.

For all his worries about his future that still lingered on his mind, the corners of Siegfried’s mouth turned upwards  _ just _ a bit. His companion did not miss it. With a wave of her hand, a flower in a rich shade of purple appeared, which she handed to him.

“For you,” she answered his puzzled expression, “for showing me that rare smile.”

“Does this flower have any meaning?”

Lennah pursed her lips in thought. “Hmm… How about perseverance?”

“Does it really?”

“This may sound sacrilegious, but I don’t prescribe to the language of flowers myself. People give flowers happy, joyful, and romantic meanings but then associate other ones with rejection, loss, and hatred. A flower is a flower; why ruin their beauty with human emotion?”

The smile on Siegfried’s face widened into a smirk. “Fair enough.”

Satisfied with the response she received, Lennah turned her attention to the kettle. She swiftly removed it from the stove and poured a small amount of boiling water into the teapot before setting the kettle down on the trivet. As she swirled the water inside the teapot, she walked to the back of the room and poured the water into the drain. With a wave of Siegfried’s hand, the fire in the stove smothered into nothing.

As Lennah continued preparing the tea, Siegfried twirled the flower in his hands, inspecting the delicate object and sniffing it inquisitively. Its scent was peculiar, an artificial blend of other flowers’ fragrances; without a doubt something Lennah added herself to make it more authentic.

After some deliberation, he unceremoniously jammed it above his ear.  _ That’s what Sara, Yaia, and Lyria always did with them, right? _

When Lennah looked up, she broke into a giggling fit. Siegfried sulked. “Is it  _ that _ bad?”

“It’s—here.” Lennah reached out to fix it, pausing just before touching him to seek his approval. He scooted closer and turned his head so she had better access. “Let’s see now… Your hair like this, and then…”

He felt the stem lengthen with magic and intertwine into a lock of his hair. “So it wasn’t  _ all _ me.”

“It wasn’t  _ all _ you,” she laughed. She leaned back to examine her handiwork. “There we go, all better now. The tea should be ready in a few minutes too—if you don’t mind skipping a few steps in the traditional process.”

“It’s fine. I’m not King Josef; I’m not careful about tea etiquette.”

She deftly poured the tea into their cups, spilling not a single drop or dripping down the spout. Siegfried waited until she sat down before venturing a sip. “...It’s spicy.”

“It’s infused with several different spices. I thought you might like it.”

“Oh? And what made you—”

The sound of approaching footsteps interrupted them, and both turned as Grea poked her head past the door frame. “Um… Have either of you seen Anne?”

“Hmm… I can’t say I have!” Lennah replied as Siegfried shook his head.

Grea sighed, muttering under her breath about how Anne was too energetic and impulsive for her. Before she could leave, Lennah continued, “Oh! I think I overheard her tell Owen that she needed to go out and buy something. She should be back before long—would you like to join us for some tea? You don’t mind, do you, Siegfried?”

He shook his head again. Even as Grea fidgeted nervously in the presence of two adults, her tail flicked in gratitude. She shyly pulled up a chair to the table, picking one with an opening large enough in the back to fit her tail through. “W-well, if you really don’t mind…”

Siegfried plucked another teacup and saucer from the ledge and set it in front of her before Lennah filled it up. Grea flusteredly thanked them as she awkwardly nursed her cup, unsure how to interact with them.

“Grea dear, you’re a half-dragon, correct? Well, I suppose the horns, wings, and tail give it away, but…”

“O-oh! Um, yes, I… I am. I’m still trying to control my dragon powers, but I’ll try my best not to bother the rest of the crew!”

Lennah giggled in the face of Grea’s sincerity. “Don’t worry, you’ll never be a burden on us.”

“Th-thanks… So, um… Why the sudden interest?”

The three knew each other in passing, but most of their interactions went as far as overhearing each other’s conversations since they were in the same room. Because of chatter here and there, Grea knew their names, but it never occurred to her that they knew  _ hers _ .

As her gaze turned to Siegfried, her eyes widened. Just laying her eyes on him, she could sense something… different. “You’re… You have…?”

He nodded solemnly. “Many years ago, in battle against the True Dragon Fafnir, I was covered in its blood and was made to ingest some to save my life. Now, it seems like my body is slowly but surely becoming a dragon’s.”

She nodded, slightly furrowing her brows as she considered his situation. “Since I’m, um, a natural-born half-dragon, I’m not sure what it’s like to slowly become one. But even I can’t really control my dragon powers and I was born with them…”

“So it seems like you and Siegfried are in this together!”

Grea poked her head around, looking at Siegfried’s body from various angles. “You haven’t started growing scales or anything, right?”

“Not yet, at least.”

Her expression turned grim. “As a warning, if you grow scales and start molting, it’s really painful.”

“I haven’t thought about the logistics of gaining more dragon-like features,” Siegfried admitted as he placed a hand to his chin. “Do you need your clothes tailored to fit your tail?”

The tail in question wiggled back and forth. “Not really? My tail comes out my lower back---it’s hard to tell---so most of my clothes fit above it or under it. I wear a school uniform and sometimes the sleeves get destroyed if I activate my dragon powers. I’m not sure about armor, though.”

He turned his culet in his hands, smoothing his fingers down the protective gear. “A tunic and hauberk can fit around a tail, as do trousers, but I’d have to modify this,” he remarked.

“If you grow a tail,” Grea added, “it also varies in thickness depending on molting season.”

Siegfried sighed. “Maybe I should forgo plate armor on my back if that ever happens.”

“I know how that feels,” Lennah nodded sympathetically. “Sometimes branches would poke through my clothes, so I’d have to trim them back down and patch up my sleeves. It would have been nice to have La Coiffe around more often!”

Alarm crossed Grea’s face. “B-branches?”

“Oh my, you don’t know! I was cursed to create flowers to slow down the process of becoming a tree. All sorts of plants were growing out of me!”

Grea looked at her tea in a very, very different light. Lennah continued on, seemingly oblivious to the younger woman’s change in expression.

“Well, when it was time to be absorbed by the Mother Tree, my old cursed body was destroyed and I was revived in a new, curse-less body to protect it. But, with the help of the crew, I managed to regain my senses and destroyed the Tree for good. So now I’m no longer growing bark and branches on my skin, and these tea leaves did not grow out of my body.”

_ Oh, she wasn’t oblivious at all. _

Realizing she was seen through, Grea stammered an apology. “Hee hee, I was just teasing you,” Lennah giggled blithely. “Though admittedly, I  _ have _ made the most of my curse back in the day. Having a permanent source of kindling  _ was _ pretty handy…”

“BOO!”

A pair of hands darted out, grabbing Grea by the shoulders. With a shriek, the dragoness turned towards the source: a very smug, satisfied Anne. While Lennah was explaining her circumstances, Anne had crept up on them, lifting an index finger to her lips when Siegfried spotted her.

“Anne! What if I hit you with my tail in self-defense?!”

“Worth it!” The blonde-haired girl threw her arms around Grea’s shoulders in a back hug, laughing all the while. “And it’s payback for making me look for you for a whole thirty minutes!”

Blushing, Grea weakly tried to push Anne away with her tail, but it was obvious the other girl wasn’t the slightest bit deterred. “So did I! Miss Lennah told me you went out shopping, so I was having tea with them while I waited…”

Anne dangled a sachet in front of Grea’s face. “I got the herbs for the concoction! Eugen told me they sell them for cheap in a certain corner store here, so I ran out to get them.”

“Anne… that concoction is explosive, you know. We really shouldn’t try and make it inside the Grandcypher or else Rackam will be the one blowing up…”

“I know, I know! That’s why we need to do it outside in the field while we’re still docked! C’mon!”

“Wait, Anne! Let me finish my tea first!”

As Grea picked up her cup, Anne made grabby hands at it. “Ooh, ooh! Is that Lennah’s tea? Ladiva told me it’s  _ suuuuper _ good! Lemme try it!”

With a sigh, Grea surrendered it. Anne took a swig (Siegfried didn’t know that was even possible with a teacup’s tiny volume) before returning it. “It  _ is _ good! Lennah, I definitely need to have some more another time!”

“Of course, dear! You can find me in Raduga tonight. Ladiva asked me to help taste test some new tea blends we have.”

“I’ll be there, then! C’mon Grea, we need to hurry!”

Grea hastily finished what was left in her cup and made sure to gently lower the teacup onto its saucer before getting dragged away. As she half-stumbled out the door, she cried out, “Anne, we still have five hours here! We’re not in that much of a hurry! ...And thank you for the tea!”

“Anytime, Grea!” Lennah called back after her.

The two adults watched the empty doorway, listening to the two girls’ banter as it faded away. With calm restored, Lennah poured herself another cup. “Now, where were we…”

“The tea. Why you chose this blend,” Siegfried reminded her as he took the teapot off her hands to pour himself a second cup.

Her eyes lit up. “Oh, yes! You tend to gift items traditionally used for warding off evil spirits, isn’t that right? And if my eyes didn’t deceive me, the fruit used in this tea is the same kind that you gave Gran and Djeeta on their birthday.”

“Guilty as charged,” he chuckled.

Lennah swirled her teacup, staring into the liquid as it circled around. “Does this, by any chance, have something to do with your dragon blood?” He froze, and she quickly added, “You don’t need to reply to that if you don’t wish to.”

“You saw it for yourself,” he shrugged in an attempt to feign nonchalance, “I’m not exactly a docile creature under my dragon blood’s influence.”

_ It would seem... you've always been a monster. _

Hagen’s last words to him echoed in his mind. Quickly, he turned his head towards the window to hide his grimace.

Lennah hummed thoughtfully. “You may have been a bit grouchy from having your dragon blood forcefully awakened.”

“That’s an understatement if I’ve ever heard one.”

“Be that as it may, those were exceptional circumstances. I succumbed to my curse and attacked the crew when I was revived by the Mother Tree, but in the end, the result was not the worst possible ending I could have had. Perhaps becoming a dragon isn’t the terrible outcome you think it will be.”

“...Lennah.” He still didn’t turn to look at her, but she could see the pain clear in his expression. “Not everyone can live as beautifully as you do.”

She fell silent for a moment, glancing from the scars on his arms and hands to the battle-worn armor sitting on the windowsill. “True, you may not be able to live the way I do. But I wouldn’t say that my life is any more beautiful than yours. You’ve faced countless hardships and made it through them all. What you’ve had to do to may have been ugly, but that doesn’t make your life any less precious.”

_ The man who emerges victorious is the man who continues struggling until the bitter end! _

“Ah… How long ago was it that Gunther said that to me…”

Lennah cocked her head to the side, but decided not to interrupt him seeing that he was clearly reminiscing about something. Just then, she noticed his trembling lower lip, then looked up and saw his eyes dampening with tears.

Almost delicately, she whispered, “Siegfried, would you like some privacy?”

When he gave her a wordless nod, she produced a handkerchief from her pouch and placed it next to him on the table, with another flower produced with her magic sitting on top. Without another word, she took her leave, closing the door behind her.

“Oh, Yaia, how long have you been here?”

Through the closed door, Siegfried heard Lennah’s voice again. He sensed the young Draph’s presence shortly before, but because she didn’t interrupt them, he assumed she was playing hide-and-seek with some of the other crew kids.

“Um, me and Charley Horse found this pretty stone! I wanted to show it to Uncle Siegfried, but you guys looked all serious and stuff...”

“My my, and you’ve been waiting here all this time! You’re such a sweet girl, Yaia. And very smart, too. Siegfried wanted some alone time, so how about you come find him later and show him the pretty stone?”

“Oh, okay! Auntie Lennah, do you want to want to see the pretty stone too?”

Lennah gave a small but exaggerated gasp. “You’re going to let me see it too? Oh, I would love to, Yaia—but let’s move somewhere brighter so I can see it better, okay?”

With that, she herded Yaia down the hallway, leaving Siegfried well and truly alone.

_ Yaia wasn’t standing outside the door because she was playing, she was waiting for me… _

Now that he thought about it, Siegfried realized he was quite popular with the younger members of the crew. It wasn’t just Arthur and Mordred, who’d grown up hearing about tales of his achievements in Feendrache; Sara greeted him without fail every morning, Farrah always bragged to Yuri whenever she got a chance to train with him, and Ardora liked watching his sparring matches with Agielba in particular.

_ Licht… if you were alive now, would you have grown up to adore me like these kids do? _

Siegfried grieved for what could have been, but no tears fell down his face no matter how hard he wished they would.


End file.
